Bulldog Weekly Report (Dec. 19)

By Jacob Knabel on Dec. 19, 2017 in Athletic Announcements

*The Bulldog Athletic Association will not meet this week due to the holiday break. Therefore, no athletes of the week will be recognized. The next Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week will be announced on Jan. 9.

Previous athletes of the week
Dec. 12 – Cordell Gillingham (basketball) / Taylor Cockerill (basketball)
Dec. 5 – Brevin Sloup (basketball) / Sydney Feller (basketball)
November Athletes of the Month: Tarence Roby (football) / Quinn Wragge (basketball)
Nov. 28 – Jake Hornick (basketball) / Quinn Wragge (basketball)
Nov. 14 – Cameron Devers (wrestling) / Jeannelle Condame (soccer)
Nov. 7 – Tarence Roby (football) / Emily Deschaine (cross country)
October Athletes of the Month: Ryan Durdon (football) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)
Oct. 31 – Ryan Durdon (football) / Kaitlyn Radebaugh (soccer)
Oct. 24 – Marcelo Hernandez (soccer) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)
Oct. 17 – Carlos Ferrer (soccer) and Grady Koch (football) / Sami Birmingham (soccer)
Oct. 10 – Micah Lehenbauer (soccer) / Kaitlyn Radebaugh (soccer)
Oct. 3 – Micah Lehenbauer (soccer) / Maria Deeter (soccer)
September Athletes of the Month: Tarence Roby (football) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)
Sept. 26 – Kordell Glause (football) / Emily Deschaine (cross country)
Sept. 19 – Lewis Rathbone (soccer) / Victoria Cera (soccer)
Sept. 12 – Tarence Roby (football) / Murphy Sears (golf)
Sept. 5 – Jack Bennett (soccer) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)

News and notes:

Roby picks up second All-America honor: Already tabbed a NAIA second team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association, senior defensive back Tarence Roby collected another All-America honor on Dec. 15. The Associated Press selected Roby as a first team All-American. The Concordia football program has had an All-American in five of the past six seasons. Roby has also been named a nominee for the Cliff Harris Award, presented to the top defensive player in the nation at the small college level (NAIA and NCAA Division II and III).

Henson and staff awarded for championship run: Named the GPAC Coach of the Year for leading the women’s soccer program to its first-ever conference regular-season title, Greg Henson reeled in another honor last week. The United Soccer Coaches chose Henson and his staff as the NAIA Plains Region women’s soccer coaching staff of the year. Henson owns a five-year record of 70-25-11 since taking over the program prior to the 2013 season. For more on the award, click HERE.

Bulldogs end fall seasons with 33 NAIA Scholar-Athletes: A total of 33 Bulldogs earned Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete recognition during the fall of 2017. The final fall Scholar-Athletes were named last week when seven Concordia football players were among the honorees. The Bulldogs remain the NAIA’s all-time leader in scholar-athletes.

Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its third year of existence. The show airs live for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT on KTMX-FM 104.9 Max Country. The weekly feature can also be heard live via 104.9 Max Country’s website or by downloading the Max Country app. Throughout the 2017-18 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country. Tyler Cavalli serves as the host of the coaches’ show as well as the play-by-play voice for football and basketball. Frank Greene is again calling volleyball action.

Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting http://www.cune.edu/csn at game time. Check team schedules/results pages for webcast dates. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.

Wrestling

  • The pre-New Year’s schedule concluded on Sunday at the annual Oklahoma City Duals hosted by Oklahoma City University. The Bulldogs claimed wins over Bethany College, 49-6, and over Lyon College, 34-18, and dropped duals with No. 15 Baker University, 28-12, and with Oklahoma City, 25-20. The Oklahoma City Duals ended a stretch of seven-straight days without a competition for Concordia. By the end of the day, second-year head coach Andrew Nicola’s squad sat at 3-3 overall in dual meets. It remains 1-0 versus GPAC opponents. For more information on Bulldog wrestling, click HERE.
  • As a team, Concordia racked up 24 individual wins, including five over nationally ranked foes, and eight pins at the Oklahoma City duals. All five victories over ranked combatants came from different Bulldogs. At 157, senior Jared Woods edged Bethany’s 11th-ranked Brandon Lawson-Archuleta, 4-3. Sophomore Cam Devers defeated Baker’s 12th-ranked (133) Tyler Dickman, 3-2, at 141 pounds. At the same weight, junior Chris Kimball topped Bethany’s No. 20 Caysen Smith by major decision, 16-8. In the matchup with Oklahoma City, 174-pound junior Walker Fisher beat 19th-ranked Kaden Truelove, 3-2. Finally, senior Jon Lado took care of Lyon’s No. 20 Connor Weber, 7-4, at 165.
  • While wrestling in his home state, Woods made the biggest splash of any Bulldog. The Durant native went a perfect 4-0 with the highlight being his win over Lawson-Archuleta. He also defeated Baker’s Joseph Tallie, 9-3, tech falled Lyon’s Roger Gasmann, 16-1, and picked up another win by forfeit. Woods ran his season record to 11-8 overall. The Oklahoma City Duals presented Woods his first opportunity of the year to compete in a dual.
  • Devers continues to roll at 141. He split time on Sunday with Chris Kimball. In his two matches in Oklahoma City, Devers not only defeated Dickman, he claimed a major decision over Michael Sanchez of the host institution. Perhaps underrated at sixth in the GPAC in his weight class, Devers is off to a sterling 17-2 start. He is a perfect 4-0 in dual matches and ranks second on the team with six pins. Devers was the lone freshman to represent the program at last season’s GPAC tournament.
  • All 11 Bulldogs that competed on Sunday notched at least one win. Nine collected two or more victories with Woods leading the way. He was followed by Fisher (3-1) and Lado (3-1). Concordia won all seven contested bouts against Bethany. The lone match that went to the Swedes was at 133, where the Bulldogs were open the entire day. Concordia took seven matches from Lyon and five from Oklahoma City. Lado emerged as the only Bulldog with more than one pin. He wiped away opponents from Baker (Bryson Wesley) and Bethany (Nicolas Desch).
  • Devers’ 17 wins are a team best. Another nine Bulldogs own double-digit victory totals: Darrin Miller (16-9), Cody Lambert (15-13), Fisher (13-5), Deandre Chery (13-8), Josh Nelsen (13-8), Woods (11-8), Blake Castillo (11-9), Lado (10-5) and Kimball (10-7). Chery remains the team leader with seven pins.
  • With the semester now over, the program’s all-time most accomplished heavyweight Ceron Francisco has finished his short time as a student assistant on Nicola’s staff. One of two wrestlers in school history to reach 100 career wins, Francisco is moving on as a resident athlete for the Cavalier Wrestling Club at the University of Virginia. The site serves as a USA Regional Olympic Training Center. Francisco has hopes of qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
  • The calendar will have flipped to 2018 the next time Concordia returns to action. The Bulldogs will be at the annual NWCA National Duals at the War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind., Jan. 4-5. The Bulldogs received an invitation to the prestigious event based on their 15th place finish at the 2017 national championships. The program’s best placement ever at the National Duals was seventh in 2016.

Women’s Basketball

  • After eight days in a row without a game, the second-ranked Bulldogs opened up a grueling December road swing last week with a trip to Orange City, Iowa. Despite trailing for roughly 37 minutes of game time, Concordia rallied back from a deficit as large as 12 points and claimed an 84-80 win at No. 18 Northwestern on Dec. 15. One of six remaining undefeated teams in NAIA Division II, 12th-year head coach Drew Olson’s squad now stands at 11-0 overall and at 7-0 in conference play. For more information on Concordia women’s basketball, click HERE.
  • The 2014-15 Bulldogs ended a drought of 10 years without the program claiming a win at Northwestern. That victory opened the floodgates for Concordia, which has emerged with wins in three of its past four visits to Orange City. The ’14-15 team won going away, 83-57, at Northwestern. The last two trips to Northwestern have resulted in wins by scores of 88-81 and last week’s 84-80 final. Overall, the Bulldogs have defeated the Red Raiders in each of the last five meetings.
  • Recently, four-year seniors such as Brenleigh Daum and Mary Janovich went past 100 wins during their collegiate careers. It’s also worth noting the record of the class of sophomores that includes 2016-17 second team All-American Philly Lammers. The second-year group is a combined 45-3 when adding in the 34-3 record last season and the 11-0 start to the current campaign. Lammers is joined in the sophomore class by fellow starter MacKenzie Helman and varsity reserves Colby Duvel, Maggie Goltz, Taryn Schuette and Riley Sibbel.
  • Junior Quinn Wragge recorded 20 points or more in a game for the second time this season and for the 11th time in her career during last week’s action. Meanwhile, she continues to move up the ladder on the program’s all-time scoring list. With 1,042 points, Wragge has passed Tammy Blome (1,032) and Amy Streuter (1,013) as the 23rd leading scorer in school history. Wragge is also approaching the program’s top 20 all-time for rebounds and steals.
  • A big advantage in turnover margin has regularly been a recipe for success during Olson’s tenure. A +14 turnover margin at Northwestern proved to be a major factor in allowing Concordia to pull out a victory despite being outshot, 56.3 to 40.0 percent. The Bulldogs now rank fifth nationally in turnover margin (+8.5). That figure compares favorably with each of the three teams Olson has led to the national semifinals: 2016-17 (+8.6), 2014-15 (+10.2) and 2011-12 (+9.7).
  • During his 12 years, Olson has been the leader of Nebraska’s most successful women’s basketball program. Nothing seems to have changed so far in 2017-18. Concordia owns the highest national ranking of any Nebraska collegiate women’s basketball, has the most wins and is the only undefeated program left within the state. Some of the state’s other high profile programs have at least two losses: Creighton (6-3), Kearney (8-2), Nebraska (7-3) and Omaha (7-3). The Bulldogs own three wins this season over Nebraska opponents: College of Saint Mary, Hastings and Midland. Concordia has won its most recent matchups with Kearney (November 2008) and Omaha (January 2012).
  • No team in NAIA Division II women’s basketball owns a better résumé to date than the Bulldogs, who have already beaten five nationally-ranked opponents, including three on the road. Concordia has ventured away from home to make victims of No. 8 Dakota Wesleyan, No. 9 University of Jamestown and No. 18 Northwestern. According to Massey Ratings, the Bulldogs have played the most challenging schedule of any NAIA women’s basketball team – and that calculation doesn’t include upcoming games against No. 4 College of the Ozarks and No. 1 Saint Xavier University.
  • Senior Mary Janovich plucked four steals at Northwestern, running her career theft total to 195 and moving her past Traci Leggett (192) for 16th on the program’s all-time list. The top 15 on that list all recorded more than 200 steals in their careers. The school’s all-time steals leader is Penny Jacobsen, who piled up 409 thefts from 1982-86. Janovich will need to reach 232 career steals in order to crack the top 10.
  • Before settling in for a holiday break, the Bulldogs will take a lengthy road trip to play fourth-ranked College of the Ozarks (13-0) today (Dec. 19) in Point Lookout, Mo., at 6 p.m. CT. Concordia will then head back north to Lawrence, Kan., to challenge Haskell Indian Nations University (4-13) the next day at 5:30 p.m. The Bulldogs have four nonconference away games to close out the month of December.

Men’s Basketball

  • A layoff for finals week ended with a journey to Orange City, Iowa, on Dec. 15 for a clash at No. 11 Northwestern. Despite shooting 54.7 percent from the floor, Concordia couldn’t keep up with the explosive Red Raiders, who protected their home court with a 111-103 victory. Northwestern All-American guard Colton Kooima torched the Bulldogs for a school record 51 points. The loss snapped a four-game win streak for fifth-year head coach Ben Limback’s squad, which slipped to 9-3 overall and to 4-2 in conference action. For more information on Concordia men’s basketball, click HERE.
  • There was nothing wrong with the way the Bulldogs performed from an offensive standpoint at Northwestern. Concordia knocked down 15 more 3-point field goals while going over 100 points for the second time this season. After that effort, the Bulldogs improved their national rankings to seventh in 3-point field goals per game (11.0), 15th in 3-point field goal percentage (.404) and 22nd in field goal percentage (.494). Concordia has failed to produce fewer than nine made 3-point shots in just two games all season.
  • Because of the youth on the team, no Bulldogs are within striking distance of 1,000 career points, but sophomore Tanner Shuck looks to be on a fast track to getting there. After averaging 10.2 points in his freshman campaign, the Grand Island native is averaging 14.8 points this season. He now stands at 493 points through his first career 43 contests at Concordia. Shuck continues to be one of the nation’s top outside shooters. He currently ranks 14th nationally in terms of 3-point field goal makes per game.
  • Northwestern’s field goal percentage of 50.0 equaled a season high for Bulldog opponents this season. One significant reason why Concordia won nine of its first 11 games was due to its improved perimeter defense. Entering last week’s contest, opponents were shooting just 31.2 percent from beyond the arc. Kooima and company tested the Bulldog backcourt to the max. Northwestern went 12-for-29 from 3-point range and was nearly automatic from the free throw line (27-for-29).
  • Sophomore Zach Friel took full advantage of his 15 minutes of playing time against the Red Raiders. He went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc on his way to a career high 15 points (13 came during the first half). The Las Vegas native played sparingly last season as a freshman when post players Chandler Folkerts and Justin Damme got more frequent minutes. This season Friel is averaging 5.7 points and 3.1 rebounds and is shooting 44.4 percent from 3-point range.
  • Concordia’s first 12 games have surprised some outsiders. Slowly, the Bulldogs have moved up the conference pecking order. In the official GPAC ratings, Concordia has gone from eighth in the preseason to sixth on Nov. 28 to fifth on Dec. 12. As a result, the Bulldogs even received votes in the national poll released last week. They appeared among others receiving votes at various times last season. The program is still looking to break into the top 25 for the first time since December 2010.
  • Like Friel, Kyle Pierce has stepped into a much larger role this season. He also serves in a leadership capacity as the lone senior on the roster. After totaling a combined 175 points in his first two collegiate seasons, Pierce is averaging by far a career best of 11.2 points per game this season. He also contributes 5.4 rebounds per outing and sports solid shooting percentages of 47.3 from the field, 45.5 from 3-point range and 73.9 from the free throw line.
  • The majority of Concordia’s games have not been decided until the closing minutes. Eight of their 12 contests have finished with margins of eight points or less, including all three defeats. Those three losses have each come at the hands of teams that sported top 20 national rankings at the time of tipoff. The Bulldogs are still seeking their first win of the season over a ranked opponent.
  • Concordia will be idle this week, providing time for members of the team to celebrate the Christmas holiday. Up next is a trip to Chicago for road games Dec. 29-30 at Robert Morris University and Judson University. Conference play will resume after New Year’s Day. The Bulldogs have fallen only one time outside of league action.